I recently read a very short book called Don’t Waste Your Cancer By John Piper. John Piper wrote this book the night before his prostate cancer surgery. I decided to call this blog post Don’t Waste Your Illness because I feel this book can relate to anyone who is going through any kind of illness. If you would like to download this book you can click here. Once you click the link, click download and then you click PDF and it will download for free. The book is 15 pages.

One section of this book that stuck out to me was in the preface John Piper said “So not to pray for healing may waste our illness.” I think there is all a point in our lives where we pray for healing. But as we know healing does not always happen. Of course I have prayed for healing, but when I realized God wasn’t going to heal the way I wanted Him to. The kind of healing I wanted was not God’s Will and my prayer changed. But like John Piper said that if we don’t pray for healing God will not get the glory later on when healing happens.

Another part that stuck out to me in this book was Chapter 2. “We waste our illness if we do not believe it is designed for us by God. I have heard many people say when their health has not been the greatest that God will use me/this for His glory. I believe that is a true statement. But since God is going to use you through a difficult time in your life, wouldn’t it be true to say that he designed this illness; just for you. “If God foresees molecular developments becoming an illness, he can stop it, or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call the purpose a design.” God has designed you just for the illness you are going through and He has designed your illness that you have just for you. If we only believe that we can be used by God but don’t believe that God designed our specific illness for us then we will waste our illness.

“Satan designs to destroy our love for Christ. God designs to deepen our love for Christ.”

The first part of this quote from John Piper’s book is based off of Matthew 13:22, and the second part of this quote is based off of Luke 13:16

Satan tries to destroy some of us by increasing our health and wealth, which can strangle our faith. And he tries to destroy others by multiplying their pain.

When we are diagnosed with an illness God’s goal is to take the anchors that we are holding onto so that we will only rely on Him.

We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but God who raises the dead.

2 Corinthians 1:9

A huge point that stuck out for me was in Chapter 5 which said ” We waste our illness if we refuse to think about death.” This was a big one for me because I had thought about death a lot, but every time I did I felt as if I shouldn’t because, why should I think about death, when no one is dead, every if they were very close to death? I thought about death but up until I read this book I thought it was wrong because I was greatly hoping no one would die, and thankfully no one did. But the truth of the matter is we all are going to die. How can we be okay with death if we don’t ever think about it until someone dies. Psalm 90:12 says “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” To number our days means to think about the days we have left and how few day that we really do have left.

Another point that stuck out to me in this book was in Chapter 9 which said “We waste our illness if we grieve as those who have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says ” We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as other do who have no hope. Even when someone dies, we grieve and that is okay. There is a temporary loss. But we grieve as people who have hope!

“Don’t just think of battling against your illness. Also think of battling with your illness.”

When you get diagnosed with an illness the kind of heart God wants to create in you is “a deeply affectionate caring heart for people.”

*Since I feel this book can relate to any kind of illness I have replaced the word cancer with illness.

*If quotations do not have a name attached to them, it is from the John Piper’s book.